‘I cannot stand by’: Amber Rudd quits British Cabinet and Tory Party

Amber Rudd has sensationally quit the British Cabinet and the Conservative Party in protest at Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit.

Ms Rudd quit her post as work and pensions secretary and said she was relinquishing the Tory whip after Mr Johnson sacked 21 rebels this week.

Mr Johnson removed the whip from two former chancellors and Winston Churchill’s grandson after they voted to give Opposition MPs control of the order paper and start the process of blocking a no-deal Brexit.

“I have spoken to the PM and my Association Chairman to explain. I remain committed to the One Nation values that drew me into politics.”

In comments likely to reverberate across Westminster as it gears up for another tumultuous week, Ms Johnson said she thought a no-deal Brexit was now the Government’s main aim.

The former home secretary was dogged by questions throughout the Tory leadership contest about whether she could serve in Mr Johnson’s Cabinet if he won the race, given his strategy would involve keeping no-deal on the table during further negotiations with Brussels.

She accepted the offer of continuing in her job as work and pensions secretary when Mr Johnson formed his Cabinet in July but, in her letter of resignation, the now independent MP said, while she had accepted the need to keep no-deal as an option, said she “no longer believed leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective”.

Issuing forthright criticism of Mr Johnson, she called his decision to sack Tory rebels – such as ex-chancellor Philip Hammond, Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames and Ken Clarke, the longest serving MP in the commons – “an “assault on decent and democracy”.

Ms Rudd, who was also minister for disabled people, added: “This short-sighted culling of my colleagues has stripped the party of broad-minded and dedicated Conservative MPs. I cannot support this act of political vandalism.

“Therefore, it is with regret that I am also surrendering the Conservative whip.”
Ms Rudd has represented her constituency since 2010 and has one of the smallest majorities in the country, with only 346 votes separating her from her Labour rival in 2017.

I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the Government’s main objective

Ian Lavery MP, Labour Party chair, said Ms Rudd’s sudden resignation was a sign that “no one trusts” the PM.

“The Prime Minister has run out of authority in record time and his Brexit plan has been exposed as a sham,” he said.

“No one trusts Boris Johnson. Not his Cabinet, not his MPs, not even his own brother.

“After nine years of austerity, we need a Labour government that will invest in our communities and public services.”